Improvement of water quality to enhance environmental stability is a subject of significant interest, and several previous patents have issued that deal to some extent with the various issues involved. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,227,067; 5,227,068; and 5,314,619, all in the name of L. Runyon, and assigned to Eco Soil Systems, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., address a variety of aspects of soil remediation and enhancement, and water treatment by applying various microorganisms, enzymes and nutrients for the microorganisms in water. The systems described in these patents have proved to be successful, and substantial benefits have been obtained for such application areas as golf courses, parks and field crops. However, these previous systems utilized solid reactants which had that have to be dissolved or dispersed prior to use, or were cumbersome and not particularly suited for prolonged water treatment, or could not be used in a wide variety of different types of applications. In particular, the handling of the solid reactants often posed problems with respect to different dissolution rates, concentrations and growth rates.
Several other prior water treatment systems, not based on wetland entrainment have also been described. These systems have been designed for large- and/or small-scale treatment using biological media, containment in the form of tanks, and various types of recirculation to accelerate contaminant reduction. For the most part, they include biological treatment as well as mechanisms designed to enhance the effectiveness of the microbial action. Unfortunately, each suffers from one or more deficiencies that significantly affect the ability to provide the most effective and relatively inexpensive water treatment systems.
For example, ammonia build-up in aquaculture ponds (locals used for growing aquatic animals for food or ornamental viewing pleasure) is problematic, since as little as 3 parts per million (mg/L) is sufficient to poison fish. However, the presence of ammonia is inevitable, as it is a by-product of fish waste. Bacteria typically used to nitrify the ammonia also lower the oxygen level of the system, which can be deleterious to the animals therein.
Similarly, fat, oil and/or grease build-up in septic systems is a pervasive problem, particularly where the septic systems are handling large volumes of waste, such as those associated with restaurants. Typically, these septic systems have little or no capacity to handle fat, oil and grease. As a result, these compounds proceed through the septic system and into the leaching field un-degraded, and eventually clog the leaching field, resulting in the failure of the entire system.
The accumulation of nutrients in aquaculture ponds, the leaching of nutrients from failed septic systems, and other wastewater treatment cites present a defined need to apply bacterial remediation to help restore the systems to their natural levels. However; dosing and distribution of bacteria in aqueous environments has been problematic.